Best way to book air travel...

[pmanson]

Guys & Gals,

My brother is getting married on Hilton Head Island (South Carolina) at the end of October so my wife, I and our son (who will be just over a year old when we make this trip) need to organise flights to get over there.

My brother and his future wife have hired a house/condo for all of us to stay in so we only need to organise flights out there.

While we are in the US we want to go to Texas to visit my Aunt, Uncle and various cousins so ideally we want:

Fly from a London airport to Charlotte (or similar), hire a car and drive to Hilton Head Island (or fly into Hilton Head and pick up a car from there). Then after a week fly from Hilton Head/Charlotte over to Dallas Texas, stay a week/10 days and fly direct from Dallas.

Potentially we may not have to hire a car in Hilton Head (as my parents will be there and we could car share to reduce costs) but we will need to hire a car seat and I fancy trying out a Mustang or similar!

As we have no hotels to worry about what's the best way of getting flights?

Cheers,
Phill

[Benzman]

Phill

I've found the cheapest way is to book direct with the airline, from London there is a good choice of airlines doing the trans-atlantic route, just invest a little time in checking flights out on their websites, you'll get all the flight times, prices etc, so it's easy to make a comparison, then go with who-ever you are most comfortable with.

For internal US flights try Jetblue, the US equivalent of Easyjet/Ryanair, good value for money.

[Zeek]

Not much to add, except that I've been to a wedding on Hilton Head Island and my cousin lives there. It's a very nice place, especially if your apartment overlooks the harbour. It's also a golfers paradise!

I flew into NYC and connected to Savannah, Georgia. Drove from there.

[Engineer1]

Kayak is good for checking who is offering the cheapest flights,

[pmanson]

Zeek said:

Not much to add, except that I've been to a wedding on Hilton Head Island and my cousin lives there. It's a very nice place, especially if your apartment overlooks the harbour. It's also a golfers paradise!

I flew into NYC and connected to Savannah, Georgia. Drove from there.

I've been there once before (my brother had a gap year working at the Hilton Hotel on HHI where he met his wife to be).

We drove up to Savannah for the day very nice.

I think we flew into New York, then to Charlotte and then a small plane into Hilton Head Island (Which was then turned back due to the weather so we had to get a taxi!)

[Stephanie Plum]

Pay by credit card - you're insured then if the airline go under.

[pmanson]

Engineer1 said:

Kayak is good for checking who is offering the cheapest flights,

Thanks for the tip!

Best price is with Delta at £586 per person. I'm assuming that the little one will go free but just have to sit on my lap.

An easy way of getting pricing though!

[Puggit]

Having just flown to the Canaries and back with a 21 month old on the lap - don't do it...

Charlotte is the hub for US Airways, might be useful info...?

[pmanson]

Puggit said:

Having just flown to the Canaries and back with a 21 month old on the lap - don't do it...

Charlotte is the hub for US Airways, might be useful info...?

Our budget may dictate otherwise! My preferred option of putting the wife and little one on one flight and getting a seperate flight for myself was bet with considerable distain when I mentioned it!

[fatboy b]

Get on price comparison websites, but then book direct with the airline. I wanted to upgrade a few years back, but owing to the way I booked my ticket (3rd party) I couldn't. So given that, I'd expect any changes would be easier if booked direct.

[S 8 GRN]

pmanson said:

Puggit said:

Having just flown to the Canaries and back with a 21 month old on the lap - don't do it...

Charlotte is the hub for US Airways, might be useful info...?

Our budget may dictate otherwise! My preferred option of putting the wife and little one on one flight and getting a seperate flight for myself was bet with considerable distain when I mentioned it!

Just flown return to Morocco with 22 month old twins - no issue. Just be prepared with activities and food. The harder you work to entertain them the easier it will be. Did New York last year at 14 months which was even easier. Tenerife at 13 months. Israel at 6 months and Lanzarote at 13 weeks.

Piece of piss.

Just resign yourself to having absolutely no rest and feeling like crap when you arrive for at least 24hrs!

For me it's always worth it to have quality time with the kids and escape from work. It's the only time I can truly switch off.

[Fezant Pluckah]

fatboy b said:

Get on price comparison websites, but then book direct with the airline.

What's the point of looking on a price comparison website then?

[fatboy b]

Fezant Pluckah said:

fatboy b said:

Get on price comparison websites, but then book direct with the airline.

What's the point of looking on a price comparison website then?

To see which airline has the best deals? To find out what, if any, indirect routes will be cheaper? to see which airlines actually fly to where you want to go?

[andy400]

I've booked a fair few flights in the last few years, and I keep finding Expedia to be the cheapest. I usually start with them, but then visit the airlines own sites, all the other travel sites, price comparison sites etc, but then just go back to Expedia as nothing is cheaper.

Occasionally I'll be lured into almost booking with another site, but realise prior to committing that the price quoted is not the whole story, and various additions then appear, whereas the price quoted on Expedia is the price you pay.

And you get nectar points!

[Fezant Pluckah]

fatboy b said:

Fezant Pluckah said:

fatboy b said:

Get on price comparison websites, but then book direct with the airline.

What's the point of looking on a price comparison website then?

To see which airline has the best deals? To find out what, if any, indirect routes will be cheaper? to see which airlines actually fly to where you want to go?

But you're implying that regardless of what the comparison site says, book with the airline direct. Airlines don't alwyas have the best deals if you book direct, you know...

[fatboy b]

Fezant Pluckah said:

fatboy b said:

Fezant Pluckah said:

fatboy b said:

Get on price comparison websites, but then book direct with the airline.

What's the point of looking on a price comparison website then?

To see which airline has the best deals? To find out what, if any, indirect routes will be cheaper? to see which airlines actually fly to where you want to go?

But you're implying that regardless of what the comparison site says, book with the airline direct. Airlines don't alwyas have the best deals if you book direct, you know...

Correct. But getting the best price may not always be the best deal.

[Simon Brooks]

have used skyscanner website several times in the past year, be careful sometimes the best price is not always the better option if the flight timings are not sociable